The Graduate Cyber Operations (GCO) program is a six-quarter, 18-month, resident program at AFIT leading to a Master of Science degree with a major in Cyber Operations. Students normally enter the program in September and graduate 18 months later in March.

Cyber Operations (CO), which encompasses most of the technological aspects of Information Operations, are those actions taken to affect an adversary's information and information systems, while defending one's own information and information systems. To support CO, professionals must be cognizant of the tools, techniques, and practices required to defend, attack, and exploit these resources. At the technical level, CO encompasses multiple scientific disciplines that ensure the security of critical infrastructures, such as:

Offensive and defensive cyber operations

Systems security engineering and operations

Application software security

Mobile and wireless device security

Reverse engineering

Cryptography

Computer forensics

Threat and vulnerability assessments and analyses

Cyber Operations also encompasses managerial aspects such as:

Strategic and tactical planning for information security

Managerial and engineering ethics

Legalities

Managerial roles and responsibilities

Risk management

Information assurance systems and product acquisition

Program Educational Objectives (PEOs) are the expected accomplishments of program graduates during the first several years following graduation:

Lifelong Learning. Continue to pursue lifelong multidisciplinary learning as professional engineers and scientists.

Student Outcomes (SOs) describe the specific knowledge and skills students are expected to possess at graduation as a result of the program curriculum:

Graduates will demonstrate an in-depth understanding of cyber operations.

Graduates will be able to communicate technical information clearly by written and oral means.

Graduates will conduct independent research on topics related to cyber operations, including identifying and scoping a problem, locating and synthesizing relevant published prior work, planning and executing valid research, documenting results, and publishing them.

Graduates will be able to apply the scientific method and use reliable standards of evidence for conclusions reached.

Graduates will independently learn technical details for which they are responsible.&nbsp

Goals
The GCO program produces graduates who can effectively use the tools and techniques of both computer science as well as traditional engineering disciplines to approach and analyze complex problems, and design effective solutions for these problems. This program provides a substantial technical foundation in cyber operations including: 1) operating systems 2) computer network protection and exploitation 3) application security 4) mobile and wireless device security and 5) reverse engineering and exploitation. The program culminates with an individual thesis that typically supports Department of Defense needs. In the thesis, the student applies their individual technical expertise and demonstrates their design and analysis skills. Finally, the program satisfies the requirements of the Cyber Operations academic degree code assigned to Air Force officers on entry into the program.

Prerequisite Knowledge
The ideal student background includes an undergraduate degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering. Students with non-computer science and engineering backgrounds may be admitted into the program, but will likely need to attend preparatory courses in addition to the Cyber Operations program requirements. At a minimum, students must possess the following background knowledge prior to fully engaging in the program:

Core Courses (24 quarter hours)
The objective of the core courses is to provide graduate-level education in cyber operations through a series of computer and information security-related courses. These courses cover a wide range of CO topics including computer networking, advanced and distributed operating systems, and data security, all incorporating principles and best practices for protecting and attacking vital information resources. This objective is accomplished through satisfactory completion of the following courses:

Mathematics Requirements (4 quarter hours)
Students are required to take at least one graduate-level course in mathematics or math science. A probability and statistics course is highly recommended to fulfill this requirement. Acceptable courses include:

NOTE: Students can apply a course to satisfy only one requirement. For example, a student cannot take CSCE 644 and apply it towards both the math and breadth requirements.

Thesis (12 quarter hours)
The capstone of the AFIT GCO program is the thesis. The thesis is an in-depth study of a Cyber Operations research topic of interest to the student, their thesis advisor, and the Air Force and/or the Department of Defense. The thesis is at least twelve (12) quarter credit hours of CSCE 799. Typical allocation of these twelve hours can be over three (4 summer, 4 fall, 4 winter) or four terms (2 spring, 2 summer, 4 fall, 4 winter) depending on student course load and scheduling availability.

Both of the Research Seminars listed below are required by the Department:

Use of this DoD computer system, authorized or unauthorized, constitutes consent to monitoring of this system. Unauthorized use may subject you to criminal prosecution. Evidence of unauthorized use collected during monitoring may be used for administrative, criminal, or other adverse action. Use of this system constitutes consent to monitoring for these purposes.